United States Steel (NYSE:X) Rating Increased to Overweight at Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of United States Steel (NYSE:X - Free Report) from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating in a report published on Monday morning, Marketbeat reports. Morgan Stanley currently has $48.00 price target on the basic materials company's stock, down from their prior price target of $51.00.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on United States Steel from $55.00 to $45.00 and set a market perform rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. Wolfe Research raised United States Steel from a peer perform rating to an outperform rating and set a $46.00 target price for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on United States Steel from $47.00 to $43.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a report on Friday. Finally, StockNews.com initiated coverage on United States Steel in a research note on Monday, April 29th. They issued a hold rating for the company. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, United States Steel presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $38.00.

United States Steel Stock Up 4.3 %

Shares of X traded up $1.57 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $38.04. 4,106,699 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,545,786. The company has a market cap of $8.55 billion, a PE ratio of 11.16 and a beta of 2.06. United States Steel has a 52 week low of $20.40 and a 52 week high of $50.20. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $41.29 and a 200 day simple moving average of $41.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.71 and a quick ratio of 1.14.

United States Steel (NYSE:X - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, February 2nd. The basic materials company reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.46. United States Steel had a net margin of 4.89% and a return on equity of 10.61%. The business had revenue of $4.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.73 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.87 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was down 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that United States Steel will post 2.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

United States Steel Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 13th will be given a $0.05 dividend. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 10th. United States Steel's dividend payout ratio is presently 5.87%.

Institutional Trading of United States Steel

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Byrne Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of United States Steel by 1,140.0% in the first quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC now owns 620 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 570 shares during the period. Pacific Capital Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of United States Steel in the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Riverview Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of United States Steel in the first quarter worth approximately $29,000. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC lifted its stake in shares of United States Steel by 181.4% in the third quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 985 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 635 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new position in shares of United States Steel in the fourth quarter worth approximately $33,000. 81.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

United States Steel Company Profile

United States Steel Corporation produces and sells flat-rolled and tubular steel products primarily in North America and Europe. The company operates through North American Flat-Rolled (Flat-Rolled), Mini Mill, U. S. Steel Europe (USSE), and Tubular Products (Tubular) segments. The Flat-Rolled segment offers slabs, strip mill plates, sheets, and tin mill products, as well as iron ore and coke.